Posted 01 Jan 2005
You can buy silver in primarily two ways. Both gold and silver belong in an investor's portfolio at all times and in all circumstances.
First, you can buy a coin or bar and take physical delivery. The ideal way to purchase in this manner is in person with cash. I recommend everyone have at least some physical bullion in their immediate possession. Like extra food you never know when it may come in handy but will be extremely grateful to be prepared and merely being prepared helps calm the conscience.
Second, you can buy silver in a coin or bar form and have a third party take delivery. If a third party takes delivery then the gold is either encumbered or unencumbered. If it is encumbered then it is subject to counter-party risk which should be avoided at all costs. If it is unencumbered, meaning subject to delivery at any time and not subject to the financial ability of the storage entity, then it is subject only to performance risk. A trusted third party like GoldMoney is a viable option and the only one I have researched and am comfortable recommending. I highly recommend NOT purchasing through an ETF like SLV if you desire the protection from owning the actual metal.
GoldMoney is a great way to buy silver along with being an innovative digital gold currency. This video is a brief introduction to GoldMoney. . Holdings are free to open, take about 20 minutes, can be funded within 24 hours and are perhaps the best and most affordable offshore option that is efficient, safe and secure.
Bullion held with GoldMoney is NOT subject to counter-party risk. National currencies (Dollars - USD, Canadian Dollar - CAD, British Pounds - GBP, EURO - EUR, Swiss Francs - CHF and Yen - JPY) are held with the safest banks in customer segregated funds accounts and interest is earned. Whether you want to hold national currencies or bullion that can be petted GoldMoney is a great solution.
As referenced in the video the due diligence on GoldMoney is collected here:
Several investment professionals have recommended GoldMoney including billionaire Eric Sprott, John Embry, Mike 'Mish' Shedlock and Doug Casey.
Peter Schiff recommends GoldMoney on page 228 of his bestseller CrashProof. "There are also several places to buy gold on the Internet, and even several that offer storage programs. In general, I would be very reluctant to trust most storage programs, but one exception is GoldMoney.com, founded by James Turk, a longtime gold advocate and widely respected figure. Investors and shareholders of GoldMoney include two publicly traded gold mining companies"
Michael Maloney recommends GoldMoney on page 192 of Guide to Investing in Gold and Silver. "I can speak from personal experience here as I have used one of these companies for some time now.
Having an account at the company I deal with is sort of like having a bank account, currency trading account, payment system, and bullion storage account, all in one. You can hold any combination of, and/or trade between, U.S. dollars, euros, British pounds, Canadian dollars, gold, and silver. While holding these currencies you are paid interest at a rate comparable with a savings account, and, when holding gold or silver, your storage and account fees are among the most competitive in the industry. The metals are allocated and at all times vested to and owned by, the customer. So you are the absolute owner of your gold and silver ... no one else.
I believe this is the best way to hold precious metals outside your own country."
GoldMoney shareholders include two publicly traded companies DRDGold (sold its interest in 2008) and IAMGOLD. IAMGOLD offers investors the ability to receive dividends payments via GoldMoney.
Jersey Business Banking Law of 1991 - An example of the applicable Bank Privacy provisions. Part 4 - 42 Restricted information, "no person who under purposes of this Law receives information relating to the business or other affairs of any person; and no person who obtains any such information directly or indirectly from a person who has received it as aforesaid, shall disclose the information without the consent of the person to whom it relates and (if different) the person form whom it was received as aforesaid. ... Any person who discloses information in contravention of this Article shall be guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine, or both."
Those subject to US jurisdiction may be required to file a TD F 90-22.1 Form.
GoldMoney Business Name Registration
GoldMoney gold and silver bullion bar count
Ability to Demand Delivery of Gold. According to the User Agreement under VIII. Storage "E. A User may, by providing GoldMoney with delivery instructions, which instructions must be in the form prescribed from time to time by GoldMoney and the Vault, at any time request GoldMoney to change the goldgrams and silver ounces in his Holding into grams of gold or ounces of silver that are available for physical delivery to the User, provided that there are sufficient goldgrams and silver ounces to take delivery of a London Good Delivery bar of gold, which bar weighs approximately twelve thousand five hundred (12,500) grams, or bar of silver, which bar weighs approximately one thousand (1,000) ounces. GoldMoney will not chargea fee for its service, but fees may be charged by the Vault for acting on the delivery instructions."
Other ways of purchasing gold, particularly when counter-party risk is present, entail restrictions on demanding delivery of bullion. For example:
The Problem with the ETFs GLD and SLV
A competitor who offers 'allocated storage' has this restriction: "Excepting only duly authorized shipments to another BV gold storage location - such as might be requested by customers in response to an international crisis - BV undertakes that on no single day shall any amount exceeding both 25 kilograms and 5% of the bullion vaulted at a BV location be authorized for removal."
The NYMEX has significant restrictions which can significantly delay delivery.
The TOCOM now allows 'paper gold' to settle futures on physical gold contracts.
